If you are anything like me, a girl in her early 20s, you probably find yourself sitting at home, and scrolling through thousands of TikTok videos a day. If so, you have definitely encountered what they call an “influencer.”

This is where persuasive technology comes in. “Persuasive technologies use scientifically tested design strategies to manipulate human behavior towards a desired goal like increasing time on site or user engagement.”

Social media platforms such as TikTok, or Instagram, reward content that is engaging, visually appealing, and shareable. Because of this, it leads to social media influencers trying to rise in an economic standpoint. They think of this as a business transaction. If an influencer posts any of those content strategies and they do well, they get rewarded. The algorithm pushes these influencers to try and highlight their life so it seems as though they are living the “perfect life.” That being said, it comes down to the fact that influencers are not making content out of pure intent, but are making it to capture the viewer’s attention so they make money.

Since their portally must come off as realistic to be rewarded, it leads to immense psychological harm for people who consume the content. It adds the idea of constant comparison to them. Someone may watch a video and think “why doesn’t my life look like that?” It creates unrealistic expectations to that person’s lifestyle because the expectation they are trying to reach are unobtainable; even for the influencer creating the video.

It can harm economically, as well. Certain industries want unrealistic expectations to be performed, and their success is based solely on the number of likes, followers, and views the content gets. This can push people to now decide their worth comes from metrics.

Influencer culture is not just celebrity figures. It’s about how it can shape how everyday people feel they have to present themselves. At some points, it feels like online validation is more important than online authenticity, and then they can lose touch with who they are offline. This normalizes unrealistic standards and fuels a consumerism that may be hard to ever escape.

Despite its dazzling appearance, influencer culture exposes the ways in which persuasive technology can change opinions on attitudes and actions. However it may not be too late. We may be able to move from living for likes to living truthfully if we reconsider the mechanisms underlying in these platforms.

Citations:
Center For Humane Technology, app.participate.com/assignments/module-1-setting-the-stage/f7514ee2-1433-45b3-949c-2eb88077abb1#chapter-4. Accessed 28 Sept. 2025.